For those of you that don't know the Sharpe series follows the career of the fictitious soldier Richard Sharpe as he rises through the rank of the British Army in a period stretching from just before the Napoleonic Wars to their end. He is present at a series of historic battles and usually manages to acquit himself well. The battles and situations themselves are meticulously researched and their accuracy can be assured in all but the details concerning Sharpe, though Bernard Cornwell usually mentions in the back any changes made and also sets and relates the historical context.
This is not the first Sharpe novel I've read, it's about the fifth. It's not the fifth in the series, it's the fourth, but I've been reading them out of order. Though in all fairness, that's how the author has published them, putting new books in non sequentially.
Anyway, back to the actual book.
We join Sharpe when he is in the position of an Ensign, returning to England from India to take command of a regiment stationed there. He travels by boat, of course, and when his ship gets taken by the French a chain of events are set in motion that sees him taking an active part in the battle of Trafalgar, the famous naval engagement where Nelson crushed the might of the French and Spanish navies. This book is different to the others that I've read in that Sharpe is on a ship, whereas before he was in the Army and walking. This means a vastly slower pace. Instead of a couple of battles in the space of a few months and lots of running about in between, those couple of months are just spent drifting through the waves. While this might make it boring otherwise, Cornwell manages to keep you engaged with various other threats and activities aboard the ship. This keeps us suitably entertained until we reach the big fight at the end.
You do obviously know what the eventual outcome of the battle will be but unless you're a history buff you probably don't know the facts behind it and how the battle was won. You learn them here, after watching the daring plan that seems like it's not going to work. The whole battle itself is conducted in two parts; one with you being aware of the fire and death issuing from the ships and another confrontation which has been gradually built up over the whole book. Of the two I'm not sure which is the more tense, as one of them is much more dramatic, while with the other you're more uncertain as to what the outcome will be.
The detail in this is amazing and gives it the necessary edge of realism that you need from a historical novel. I wouldn't call the descriptions beautiful or breathtaking but more gritty. You learn possibly more about the life aboard a ship than you might have wanted.
All-in-all, a good read. You get an interesting voyage, enjoyable characters and a big battle at the end. The plot is slightly slower then some others in the series but that's to be expected. I would recommend buying this book but you might want to read the previous novels, as they are alluded to in this book. The first in the series is Sharpe's Tiger, followed by Sharpe's Triumph and Sharpe's Fortress. The last one is a book I'm planning on getting myself, as it's not one of the ones I've read and from some of the description it sounds good. And reading more Bernard Cornwell can never be a bad thing.
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